A total of 1,092 NHS doctors and managers responded to a survey about their views on the doctor-manager relationship.
Three quarters of chief executives rated the quality of current doctor-manager relationships as 4 or more on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), compared with just 37% of clinical directors. Furthermore, 78% of chief executives thought that doctor-manager relationships would improve over the next year, compared with just 28% of clinical directors.
Clinical directors often seemed to have views markedly divergent from – and much less positive than – the views held across the other three groups. For instance, they were less likely than each of the other groups to agree that "management staff in this hospital are consistently of high quality," that "managers are well versed in clinical activity," and that "doctors have sufficient influence on hospital management."
The only statement that received near unanimous approval from clinical director (90%) was "medical staff in this hospital are consistently of high quality."
Clinical directors were easily the most disaffected, with many holding negative opinions about managers' capabilities, the respective balance of power and influence between managers and clinicians, and the prospects for improved relations, say the authors.
Unless such divergence is addressed, further difficulties in delivery of the government's ambitious agenda for modernisation are likely, they conclude.